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Visions of the Heart

Chapter 1

Cheetara poured the sacred powder onto the pyre and stood back to let the princes mourn their father. She had seen funeral rites performed so many times yet she had never conducted the ritual herself—there had always been another Cleric with far more experience to perform the funeral ceremony.

The King lay motionless as the flames engulfed him. Claudus looked as powerful in death as he did in life, the fact of his death still seemed an aberration. Thundera, an opulent capital city only hours before, was now a smoking ruin. Death hung in the air and the eerie silence of the once vibrant city seemed to smother them like a blanket.

Cheetara was the only surviving Cleric. Her mentor had anointed Lion-O as king and then sacrificed himself to buy them time to escape. The cheetah had never felt so alone—barely nineteen and she was now tasked with carrying on the legacy of the Clericy. She was afraid to fail—afraid to dishonor Jaga's memory. But she already felt like a failure for not having been able to control her vision and for her inability to prevent the inevitable outcome of the surprise attack.

She was roused from her reverie as she saw the young king—his azure eyes filled with fear and anger. The cheetah had always been able to easily perceive the emotions of others—Jaga had regarded her 'sixth sense' as being part of her talent, but she learned years ago that people did not appreciate her ability to read them so meticulously.

From that point on, Cheetara was careful to not let on that she was so perceptive as to the emotions of others, but relied upon her ability to gauge her interactions with others. She sensed a barrage of confused emotions swirling in the heads and hearts of the brothers. They felt lost without the guidance of their father. They still struggled with disbelief that such destruction had befallen their kingdom. They felt anger that they were unable to do more to alter the outcome. Mostly, though, she sensed their sadness—anguish at the loss of their world as they had known it.

King Lion-O knew he must be the one to plan their course of action. He mustered a determined voice to tell them of their quest and he did so with confidence, but his eyes betrayed him. She sensed that he felt as lost as she did. As she looked into the eyes of the young king, she recognized his anguish and felt her heart warm with empathy. As a cleric, the protection of the king and prince was her duty to perform. Yet in that moment she felt more than obligation of duty—she felt an affinity for the young king. She would let no harm come to him.

It was with heavy hearts that the new king, the prince, and the cleric left their destroyed city. "We will avenge your death, Father," Lion-O whispered, as his blue eyes focused on the last wisps of smoke rising from the funeral pyre.

Forcing himself to turn away, he led the small group of survivors down the main road that led out of the city. They skirted the piles of rubble and climbed over it when necessary. Lion-O's eyes roamed the edges of the street, searching for other cats among the ruins. The city was eerily quiet in the late afternoon sunlight. Smoke still rose from fires smoldering all over the city, but there was no sign of life.

He pulled his cloak tighter around his body as a cold breeze blew down from the mountains. Yesterday at this time he was safely hidden away in the palace tinkering with his latest piece of tech, and now his home had been destroyed and his father killed. His gut churned and he swallowed back the bile that rose in the back of his throat. Glancing at the young cleric that walked at his side, he took in the sadness that graced her pretty features.

Cheetara, the brave young cleric that had risked her life to save his backside over the past few days, had lost Jaga, her mentor and head cleric. She must be experiencing some of the same feelings of loss as he and Tygra.

Lion-O watched as she hugged herself beneath her cloak and bit her bottom lip as if fighting tears. Then, squaring her shoulders, she straightened and sucked in a deep breath. Cheetara was strong and Lion-O found himself glad to have her by his side as they fought this war.

A sound to their right made all three of them and Snarf stop and squint into the shadows of twilight. "Who's there?" Lion-O called out. "Show yourself!" His hand drifted to the hilt of the Sword of Omens and he felt Cheetara tense next to him as she readied her staff before her. On his left, Tygra gripped the handle of his whip, ready to spring into action.

To the young king's surprise, two small children stepped out from behind the ruins of a crumbled building. The boy placed himself in front of a little girl that looked to be the same age, about eight or nine. "We're just looking for food," the boy said sharply, his stance letting them know that he was ready to defend the girl.

"Princes Lion-O and Tygra!" the little girl squealed as she darted around her brother.

Lion-O frowned. What were they supposed to do with these children? How could they search for the Book of Omens and babysit at the same time?

"We thought we were the only ones left," the boy said as he scampered to the girl's side. "I'm Wilykat and this is my sister Wilykit." Both kittens bowed before the older cats.

"I'm Cheetara," the cleric offered with a gentle smile as she studied the children. Both had curious eyes and mischievous grins. "Where are you going to stay tonight?"

Wilykat shrugged. "We'll probably make camp somewhere in the rubble. I can build a fire. We're used to being on our own."

Cheetara frowned. "It's not safe," she began.

"Can we come with you?" Wilykit asked eagerly. "We wouldn't be any trouble." She turned her pleading eyes to each adult.

Lion-O shook his head. "It's too dangerous. Our journey is no place for children."

"What are we going to do, leave them here alone?" Tygra asked. He studied the two small cats before them, both too young to be left by themselves in the ruins of Thundera.

Despite his trepidation for their safety, the young king did not order the kittens to stop following them. The group traveled silently for hours until Lion-O finally spoke. "It's getting late. We should set up camp for the night. "

After a brief discussion, it was decided that Tygra would take on the task of finding dinner, Cheetara would gather firewood and Lion-O would clear the site of debris and fetch drinking water from the stream nearby. The kittens surprised the older cats by splitting up— Kat following Tygra to lend a hand and Kit staying with Cheetara for firewood detail.

Lion-O made fast work of clearing the area and unpacking their supplies. As the lion was filling a bucket with fresh water at the stream, Cheetara and Kit returned and made quick work of starting the fire. Tygra and Kat successfully managed to procure some fish for dinner.

After dinner Cheetara spoke up. "I'll clean the dishes and pan in the stream." The cheetah gathered up the items and made her way to the stream, leaving the rest of their weary team to rest a bit from their long journey.

As she scrubbed the pan with a cloth, the cleric let her mind wander. She thought of Jaga and felt a stab of pain in her heart as she realized how lost she would be without his guidance. Jaga had always called her ability to sense things a gift, but the cheetah wasn't so sure. She knew that many people were uncomfortable with the knowledge that she was so perceptive at reading people.

Her visions were another matter entirely. Jaga believed that she was blessed with a sixth sense and he had been diligently practicing with her throughout the years to help her harness and control her ability. Years later, however, Cheetara was convinced that her visions were as uncontrollable as they were cryptic. The clearest vision she had ever had was of the fall of Thundera and the death of the King.

"A lot of good that vision was." She mumbled to herself as her hand scrubbed a particularly stubborn bit of food off the pan. "I had it moments before it the attack began. What good is that? I didn't even have time to warn anyone—to save anyone. I'm so sorry, Jaga." The cheetah sniffled and fought back her tears as she whispered, "I failed you."

The sound of a twig snapping nearby broke her from her reverie. She quickly turned to find Lion-O standing a few feet from her. His seemed to realize that he had caught her in a private moment and he stumbled for words.

"Ahh, hey, Cheetara. I didn't mean to..."

The cheetah's pale cheeks flushed pink. "No, Your Highness, I was just muttering to myself. It was nothing."

He looked at her and seemed to be thinking about his response carefully. "Cheetara," he began, "You fought bravely today and I know that Jaga would have been proud of you."

"Thank you, Lion-O, but I…"

"You had a vision of the attack before it occurred?" The lion spoke quickly, clearly uncomfortable about asking her for more details.

Cheetara was silent for a long moment before she looked up into the King's blue eyes and simply said, "Yes."

"How?" Lion-O struggled to find the right words. "I mean, was this your first vision or have you had them before?"

"I have had flashes of visions ever since I can remember, but they are glimpses—unclear and unpredictable," the cheetah confessed. "Jaga has been meditating with me for years to help me learn how to control them and interpret what I see; but, I'm not very good at it."

Lion-O was fascinated. He pressed her further. "What did you see in your vision of the attack?"

Cheetara recounted the entire vision for him down to the last detail. She confided in him but braced herself for his reaction once he realized that she had seen the death of his father but had been able to do nothing to prevent it. "I am so sorry, Lord Lion-O. If I had been better able to control and access my vision, King Claudus and Jaga might still be alive today.

The young king was quick to respond. "No Cheetara. None of this was your fault." Lion-O took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before he continued. "I, too, had a vision when I attempted to use Sight Beyond Sight, yet I didn't tell anyone."

"I don't understand." The cheetah looked intently at the lion, waiting for him to explain.

Lion-O scrubbed a hand through his thick red hair and shrugged, looking very much like a young boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Today for the first time I used the Sword of Omens and tried Sight Beyond Sight. I had a vision of MummRa. I told no one because I was afraid of disappointing my father and incurring Tygra's laughter."

The cheetah's brow furrowed. "Wouldn't your father be happy that you were able to have a vision using the Sword?"

Lion-O frowned. "My father saw me as a dreamer that would never grow up. I'm sure that a vision of MummRa would have been considered something out of my fantasy world." The young king's shoulders slumped and his mouth drooped at the corners as he picked up a stone and tossed it into the stream.

Cheetara watched him for a moment and mulled over his words. Lion-O was right. His father certainly grumbled that his youngest son needed to get his head out of the clouds. In fact, she had noticed King Claudus showing quite a bit of favoritism toward his eldest son, Prince Tygra.

"This isn't your fault, Lord Lion-O," she said softly, suddenly feeling fiercely protective of her blue-eyed king.

The lion turned to her with a smile. "Just Lion-O, Cheetara, please. I hope that we will become good friends as we embark on our journey."

The cheetah smiled. "Okay, Lion-O."

"And I was thinking," he began a bit bashfully, "maybe we can help each other. I can help you with your visions and you can help me with Sight Beyond Sight."

She nodded. "I'd like that. It will be nice to have someone to confide in about my visions. I miss Jaga already."

Lion-O nodded. "So do I, Cheetara."

The two cats fell silent as they pondered all they'd lost that day. Silently, they made their way back to camp with Lion-O carrying the clean dishes for Cheetara. She packed them away quietly in their bags and then settled on her bedroll by the fire. The kittens had already snuggled up in spare blankets and were sound asleep.

Tygra sat on his own bedroll gazing into the fire. "Where did you two run off to alone together?"

Lion-O rolled his eyes at his brother. "Don't start, Tygra. I'll take first watch."

"I was washing dishes and we were just talking," Cheetara yawned as she snuggled into her blankets. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," the tiger grumbled as he looked back and forth between his brother and the beautiful cheetah.

Cheetara turned her back to the brothers and stared out into the inky blackness. Tears burned behind her eyes and she let them fall silently down her cheeks. Jaga was gone. He had sacrificed himself so that they could live and find the Book of Omens. She bit her lip to keep from crying out in anguish at his loss. A sudden warmth beside her made her jump. She relaxed when she realized it was only Snarf. The little creature nosed its way under the edge of the blanket and curled into her side. She relished his company and felt her body relax, exhausted from a long, hard day.

Morning dawned clear and cool as Cheetara shook the kittens awake. They protested, but crawled from beneath their blankets into the frosty air. Tygra had a fire going and they soon enjoyed warm mush for breakfast. Cheetara slipped away for a few minutes of meditation time by herself. She felt at loose ends during the day if she didn't find time to meditate.

Settling by the stream, she closed her eyes and rested hands on her knees. She felt her body relax and then suddenly she was assaulted by a sudden image of Lion-O lying spread eagle on the ground with a bloody gash on his forehead.

Her eyes snapped open and her breath came in heavy gasps. Was Lion-O going to die? Was that what she had seen? Her hands shook and she felt like she was going to be sick.

Footsteps sounded behind her and she turned to find the king's smiling face. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

To Be Continued…